


4 AM At Galdin Quay

by Andromedas_Void



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Ignis needs to chill, Mer!Prompto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 22:11:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11815215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromedas_Void/pseuds/Andromedas_Void
Summary: A chance meeting has Noctis making an unlikely friend, one that's half fish, no less!





	4 AM At Galdin Quay

**Author's Note:**

> Ignis is probably pretty OOC in this, I apologise. This can be read as no-ship or as implied Promptis/implied Gladnis.
> 
> Please let me know if you spot any typos.
> 
> Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

The stars were shining brightly overhead, twinkling softly as if they were winking at Prompto. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of the crisp, salty air. The ocean lapped gently at his tail, which was dipped down into the water underneath the pier. The night was clear and the moon was a small sliver in the sky.

Letting the air out of his lungs, Prompto dropped back to the pier, stretching his arms out to his side. He loved Galdin Quay when it was late and quiet. Not a soul about to bother him.

He took a few more slow, deep breaths, tail swishing softly below. Nothing could ruin his perfect night.

“Hey,” a voice rang out behind him, “you okay?”

Prompto shot up, barely sparing the owner of the voice a glance, before he shoved himself off the pier and into the water with a splash. He heard the sound of feet running on wood above him as he swam under the pier, towards the restaurant, and turned sharply to the open ocean.

Noctis dropped to the end of the pier, peeking underneath it just as a long, silvery tail whipped out of sight. “What the hell...” 

He stayed on his hands and knees for some minutes longer, waiting if the creature he saw would return. It couldn't have been a mermaid. There was no proof they even existed. They were only a legend.

But legends had to come from some sort of truth.

Still, he waited. The glowing barrelfish swam lazily under the surface of the water, filling the area with a soft blue glow.

A shove to his backside caused him to tip dangerously forward and Noctis scrambled to grip the wood. “You'd better get your ass back in bed before Ignis decides to commit regicide,” Gladio barked.

“Gladio! Holy shit, I saw a mermaid!” he exclaimed, pulling himself up and rubbing his ass where Gladio had kicked him.

Gladio stared at him, the dim lights lining the pier throwing the scar running down his forehead and cheek into sharp relief, before he laughed, far too loud for three in the morning. “Yeah right, and I'm the Pious King. Now get your ass back to the room.”

Of course Gladio wouldn't believe him. Why would he believe him? He didn't see the mermaid. Noctis groaned and picked himself up off the pier, trudging back to the hotel room.

–

The trade negotiations in Altissia had been long and tiring, but Noctis had been getting better at dealing with politics. With Ignis' help, of course. He had made notes for Noctis to look over on the ferry, explaining the most important points of the trade deal. It didn't make the week go by any faster, but at least Noctis wasn't as lost as he could have been when meeting with the Altissian diplomats. 

He was grateful he was given more responsibilities when it came to the Kingdom, slowly learn the ropes of ruling, though he felt like his dad had purposely chose a job he knew Noctis would loathe. He knew public speaking in any capacity was not Noctis' strong suit.

He thanked the Astrals every day that he had Ignis. 

It was nearing four in the morning. The sky was just beginning to lighten on the horizon to the east. There was still an hour before the sun properly rose, perfect for getting in some fishing before they left for Insomnia later that morning.

Noctis was stood on the end of the long dock, barefoot and eyes tired. He didn't get any chances to fish while in Altissia and Gladio had ruined his previous attempt in Galdin Quay, so he had, once again, snuck out of their hotel room to get at least an hour in. His mind trailed back to the last time he tried fishing in Galdin Quay, before Gladio had interrupted him. 

There had been a person lounging on the end of the pier, arms spread wide, like they were sleeping. When Noctis had spoke, the person jumped from the pier, Noctis fearing they were trying to drown themself, only to see the shining of fish scales running up their sides. Then there was that long tail he had briefly seen when he looked under the pier for the person.

Could it have really been a mermaid? Or had his mind been playing tricks on him? It had been late when he saw it.

He hummed softly, casting his eyes over the sea. There were lights dotting the surface where the barrelfish swam about, every single one of them ignoring Noctis' lure.

He started to reel his line in, dropping his head. A flash of silver caught his eye, shooting underneath the pier the second he saw it. Noctis' face lit up and he desummoned his rod, sending it back into the ether, and hopped into the water. He was glad he decided to forgo his boots, though his jeans weighed him down more then he liked.

When he opened his eyes, the saltwater stinging them slightly, he saw a long tail curling around one of the pillars. A face peeked out at him, light colored hair flowing gently with the soft waves. He swam closer to get a better look, stopping one pillar away.

They _were_ real! He was looking at an actual, living, breathing mermaid!

Noctis rose to the surface to take another deep breath, sinking down to watch the creature again. It had moved enough so Noctis could see its full face. The barrelfish had taken a liking to the creature, swimming lazily around it and brightening the water so Noctis could fully take it in. 

It seemed wary and Noctis figured that was normal. It wasn't like humans had regular contact with mermaids, or any contact at all.

When Noctis couldn't hold his breath any longer, he broke the surface, intending to take another deep breath. He got the breath in when he saw the creature's head peeking out, until his eyes were above the water. The lights from the pier above gave the mermaid's hair a soft, golden glow and Noctis gasped.

“Wow. I've never met a mermaid before. Thought they were only a myth-”

“Mer.”

Noctis started when the creature spoke. “You can speak Lucian? Wait, what's a mer?”

“We're called mers, not mermaids,” the creature said, frowning at him. He was still clinging to the pillar, tail wrapped loosely around the wood and hands - with webbed fingers, Noctis noted - holding on just below the water's surface.

The voice was deeper than Noctis expected. Not as deep as his own, though. He had imagined a high pitched voice, like the sirens from myths were said to have. Though he didn't know if sirens and mers were of the same species.

Probably not.

He looked over the creature, the mer's, appearance. His skin was pale, almost silver if it wasn't for the warm lights of the pier. There were dark spots, reminding Noctis of freckles, scattered over every inch of skin from his face to where his navel would sit, though he didn't seem to have one. His chest was flat, from what Noctis could see, and he wondered if all mers had similar body structures, possibly to make them more streamlined? He could also just make out three sharp points sticking out from the side of his head, hidden by its hair, and four slits along the sides of his neck.

The mer shifted under his gaze, clearly uncomfortable.

“What's your name?” Noctis asked, after deciding it was a safe enough question.

“Prompto,” the mer said, before adding, “because I'm the fastest.”

Noctis stared at him, laughing softly. “You're named Prompto because you're fast?” 

Prompto nodded, confused. “What about you?”

“I'm Noctis.”

“Ah! Because your hair is like the night!” Prompto grinned, pointing to Noctis' head.

“What? No- well, I mean, yeah it is, but that's not why I'm named Noctis.” Noctis was flustered by the statement, and the mer's bright smile, showing off sharp teeth. “So, do all mers speak Lucian?” he asked, wondering if it was their native language.

Prompto shook his head. “Not all, no. I learned by listening to humans here and the ones in the city on the water. They speak a different one, though.”

“Accordese,” Noctis supplied. “So, if only some mers can speak Lucian, what do the rest speak? Do you have a different language?”

“We speak with our minds,” Prompto said, as if it was obvious. The explanation floored Noctis. “Words don't really work well underwater.”

“You're telepathic?” he gasped, swimming forward. “That's amazing! Can you read my thoughts?”

Prompto moved back, his tail unwrapping itself from the pillar. “I can't read thoughts, especially not a human's,” he said. He kept one hand on the pillar, tensing when Noctis stopped on just the other side of it. He knew he could swim far faster than the human, and he'd be able to escape easily, but being so close was nervewracking. Even if Noctis seemed to be nothing like the humans he was warned about.

Those humans weren't curious. They were evil. Stealing mers from the sea and experimenting on them, putting them in aquariums for other humans entertainment, and, worst of all, cutting mers up for fun. Even though Noctis wasn't trying to touch Prompto, he still kept his guard up, ready to flee at a seconds notice.

“How do you eat?” Noctis asked, brows knitted in confusion. “If you can't really open your mouth underwater, then how would you eat?”

“We have a baleen for eating,” Prompto explained.

Noctis nodded, not fully understanding.

“Like a whale,” Prompto said. “But we sometimes eat fish when it's safe to breach the surface.”

Noctis had no idea what a baleen was but he at least somewhat understood how whales eat. “Um, do you live here? Like, at Galdin Quay?”

Prompto shook his head. “I live far from here, deep under the surface,” he said cautiously, like he was choosing his words carefully. 

Noctis didn't blame him. Prompto was probably taking a huge risk even talking to him. Maybe, at this very moment, he was being watched by a dozen of so other mers, all ready for some signal to get Prompto out of danger. Maybe the mer was royalty, a prince like Noctis himself. He didn't look like a prince, but the same could be said for Noctis.

He opened his mouth to ask, when Prompto's eyes widened with fear. He heard the sound of heavy boots on the pier above them and glanced up to try and peer through the planks of wood. There was a splash and, when he turned back to the mer, Prompto was slipping out of sight under the restaurant.

“Wow, he is fast,” Noctis said in awe.

“Highness, pardon my Tenebraen,” Ignis' voice called out above him. He swam out and spotted both him and Gladio staring down at him. “But what the fuck are you doing swimming at this hour? And in your clothes, no less.”

Noctis grinned up at them. “Oh, you know. Just chatting with a mermaid-er, mer,” he said, nonchalant. He drifted over to the ladder on the side of the pier and climbed out of the water.

“Please, not this again. Noctis, they don't exist.” Ignis huffed out a tired sigh. “They're a fairy tale. A myth.”

“I know what I saw,” Noctis said as Gladio helped him up onto the pier. He was soaked and his jeans sticking to his legs made him uncomfortable.

“Have you gotten any rest?” Ignis asked, leading the prince back to the hotel.

Noctis shrugged a shoulder. “I got a little. Just wanted to get some fishing in before we leave in the morning.”

“I didn't know you partook in catching fish with your bare hands,” Ignis retorted sarcastically.

Noctis flinched at the tone. He tried to shove his hands into his pockets, only for them to get stuck halfway. He stepped into the hotel room and Ignis shoved him towards the bathroom. 

“Next time you decide to go for a swim and talk to mythical creatures, please do so wearing your swimsuit,” Ignis said. He turned away from Noctis, ignoring Gladio on his way to the arm chair in the corner. He opened a book and started reading.

Noctis could see he was still fuming and he counted himself lucky he only got a small lecture. He slipped into the bathroom, locking the door behind him, and stripped. A hot shower would feel amazing after being in the sea. It may have been early in the summer, but the water was still on the chilly side.

He didn't know how Prompto could stand it. It wasn't like the mer had much in the way of body fat. As he stepped under the spray, he started to think about the mer more. He wondered how old he was and if all mers had similar body types to him, slim and lithe. He wanted to see the mer in the daylight, see if his skin really had that silver tone Noctis thought he saw. He wondered how long his tail was. It had to have been at least six foot long, if not longer. 

Noctis also wanted to touch the mer. What would his skin feel like? Would it be like a sharks, almost sandpapery, or more like a fish, with slick scales covering his whole body. It hadn't looked like he was covered in scales, mostly just his tail and up the sides of his torso, but it wasn't like Noctis was an expert at mer biology. Or even a novice.

He hadn't even truly believe mer people existed until just an hour ago. Was convinced he hadn't really seen Prompto before they made the trip to Altissia.

He decided he'd research the creatures when he returned home. There had to be some information on them, even if it was mostly speculation and ages old 'eye-witness testimonies'.

–

“Prompto! Where have you been?” Cor questioned. He had been waiting for Prompto when he got home, arms crossed tightly over his chest, jaw set, and eyes hard. 

Prompto shied back, arms behind his back as he tried to think up a quick lie.

“Oh, for Leviathan's sake!”

He winced. He wasn't quick enough.

“You were at one of the human cities again, weren't you? What if you were caught?” Cor continued as Monica swam up beside him, giving Prompto an equally hard stare. “We wouldn't even know until you didn't come home and by then it'd be too late.”

“'M sorry,” Prompto mumbled. “He didn't even try to touch me though.”

Both Cor and Monica's eyes widened at the admission and Prompto shut his eyes tightly. “You were near a human? Prompto, you're smarter than that. Even if you're fast, what if he had a net? This human could have waited for you to let your guard down and capture you.”

“He didn't-” he tried.

“Do you want to be put on show for other humans to gawk at? Or perhaps he would just perform experiments on you, dissect you to find out how you work,” Cor said, fuming. 

“But-”

“Not another word!” It was Monica who scolded him this time. She shooed him to their cave, shaking her head in disappointment. “We don't want you going back to the human cities again. Do you understand?”

Prompto nodded, letting out a sigh. He swam into the deep cave, turning through the halls before he got to his room. He'd have to come up with a new plan for getting back to the human cities. He liked them too much to stay away. And he was always careful about not being seen.

One human seeing him wasn't the end of the world and it wasn't like he left any proof of his existence. No one would believe he had seen a mer.

He swam over to his nest of seaweed, curling his tail around his body and resting his head upon it, preparing to take a nap.

–

“Highness, please,” Ignis groaned. 

Noctis' desk was covered in aged books, old files, and inaccurate maps of the sea between Lucis and Accordo. Ever since they returned to the Crown City, Noctis had been searching through the libraries and archives for anything pertaining to mer people. Everything he found was mostly heresay and conjecture and some just flat out lies. Lies like the infamous 'mummified mermaid' found off the coast of the Imperial Continent that was nothing more than the top half of a hobgoblin stitched onto the body of a murk grouper.

“You've taken this joke too far. Enough is enough.”

Noctis glared up at Ignis, slamming his hand down on top of the book the older man tried to remove from the desk. “It's not a joke. Why would I lie about something like this?”

“Noctis, no one has ever seen a mermaid before,” Ignis insisted, ignoring Noctis' correction of 'mer'. “You have given us no proof you even saw one. How can we believe you when it's just your word?”

“Because I wouldn't lie about something like this,” Noctis grumbled. He picked up the book his hand was on, opening it to the index and searching for the pages he needed to mark. “Look, I swear to the Astrals I saw a mer and his name was Prompto-”

“Because he's fast,” Ignis interrupted. “I know, you've said multiple times since we left Galdin Quay. But Gladio and I did not see this supposed Prompto.”

Noctis leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. “Then I'll, I don't know, see if he'll let me take a picture next time,” he suggested. The mer would probably be completely against it to but it couldn't hurt to ask. He'd bring a waterproof camera with him just in case.

“There's going to be a next time?”

Noctis could hear the displeasure in Ignis' voice. The man was practically rolling his eyes by this point and Noctis set his jaw. Why didn't they just take his word for it? He had no reason to lie, especially not for this long. If he had of been joking about seeing a mer, he would have revealed so within a day. Both Gladio and Ignis knew he couldn't keep a prank going for long. And they knew he was, in Ignis' words, 'quite possibly the worst liar in all of Eos'.

“Dad's letting me head down to Galdin in a few weeks, as a treat for my 'hard work',” Noctis told him. “Providing I keep up the work, of course.”

“Of course,” Ignis said flatly. There was a sigh before he spoke again. “Just do not let this... research interfer with your duties.”

Noctis waved him off, reading through a three hundred year old report on a mer sighting. Most of it sounded straight out of a fairy tale.

The person who gave the report said her ship had struck some jagged rocks out near Angelgard due to thick fog. She had been thrown overboard and was saved by a 'half fish-half woman creature'. The woman was later found on Angelgard in a state of shock. She didn't give any details about the mer other than its skin had a golden sheen to it. The rest of her account was vague at best but it was the most accurate description he had seen yet.

The 'golden sheen' part interested Noctis the most, as he was sure Prompto had a silver sheen to his own skin. It had been hard to tell with the soft golden light from the pier above and the subtle blue glow from the barrelfish below, giving him a weird mix of gold, silver, and a touch of bioluminescence.

He turned to the next page, reading the report on it.

–

The coast was clear, Prompto noted as he slipped through the coral reefs skirting their home trench. He was doing his damnedest to swim as quietly and as slowly as possibly so he wouldn't alert Cor or Monica that he was sneaking out in the middle of the night. 

Dave, their patriarch, had been on high alert, which resulted in even Dino not being able to leave the trench, and he only searched old shipwrecks for shiny trinkets, never getting anywhere near a human city.

They had stopped their rigorous watch a few days prior, preventing Prompto from even reaching the edge of the trench for nearly three weeks. At first, he had tried to memorise their routine but that ended in failure as there was no strict path they used. They didn't even have a routine at all, they were just more aware of his movements, keeping a closer eye on him.

It had annoyed Prompto to no end.

Once he was outside the reef, he swam as quickly as his tail would allow, making it to Galdin Quay in record time. He slipped quietly under the docks and made his way to where he had original met Noctis, wondering if the human would be there.

The docks were empty. 

Prompto drifted over to the hotel balconies when he didn't spot a single human. Maybe Noctis was staying in one of the rooms. A lot of humans left the window coverings open when they stayed in the hotel, so he would try to peer inside. It was hard when the balcony was so far above the water.

Prompto hated low tide.

He readied himself and leapt from the water, grabbing the edge of the balcony tight and pulling himself up so he could peek over the edge.

The coverings were closed on the first room. Glancing to the next wide window showed the same thing. Closed coverings and a dark room behind them. If Noctis was in one of them, he was clearly asleep.

He decided to check the dock closer to the restaurant, pulling himself up with the ladder. There wasn't a human in sight. He let out a sigh. He should have expected this. He didn't even know why he wanted to see Noctis again.

What if Cor had been right and Noctis was just trying to get Prompto to drop his guard? While he knew he could easily outswim a human, if the human had a net and caught him in it, he'd be done for. He had been caught in a net once before when he was young, getting his tail tangled up in the ropes because he had been curious. It was a terrifying experience and there hadn't even been any humans around. It was just a net he had seen on some rocks when he was exploring.

Prompto swam lazily about the docks, tail just barely stirring up the water. The glowing barrelfish drifted around him, nibbling at his sides and fingers, tickling him. Slipping back under the water, he sank to the bottom, nestling in the sand, tail curled around his body. He thought about staying for another short while, seeing if Noctis would come out to the docks.

–

Noctis never showed up. Prompto had waited until it was nearly dawn. He had rolled over to his back to watch for shadows in the pier's lights but nothing ever happened.

Admitting defeat, Prompto swam back home, hoping he could get in before anyone noticed he was gone. 

He'd try again in a few days. 

When he thought about it, Prompto wasn't even sure if Noctis lived in Galdin Quay. He had never seen him before. Maybe he had been visiting the town. He had heard humans calling it a 'resort' and that they were 'on holiday'. He knew those words meant they didn't live in the town but why someone would go to a different town to stay but not live was a strange concept.

–

Prompto had gone to Galdin Quay two more times with no luck. He was expecting much the same on this trip.

A human was stood on the pier when he arrived and Prompto slipped underneath it, watching for a few moments. He crept closer, trying to get a look at the human's face. A smile broke out on his own face. 

It was him. It was Noctis. He had returned!

Prompto didn't know why he was so excited. He knew humans could be dangerous, and Noctis could easily be one of those dangerous ones.

He breached the surface of the water and shifted around the pier so he was in Noctis' view. After a few seconds of the human not noticing him, he flicked his tail, splashing Noctis' bare feet.

Noctis jumped at the shock of water hitting him and looked to the water, spotting Prompto. “Prompto! You're here!” he grinned, trying to keep his voice down. With a wave of his hand, his fishing rod vanished in a flash of blue sparkles and Prompto gasped.

He had never seen any human do that before. They usually just took their rod away with them, or sometimes they broke it down into two or three pieces before storing it in a metal case. He swam back under the pier when Noctis climbed down the ladder. 

Noctis moved around the ladder so he was also underneath the dock, keeping a hand on the rung for support. “I honestly didn't think I'd see you again,” he said, smiling at the mer. “Oh, wow. That sounded really cheesy out loud.”

“How did you do that blue thing?” Prompto asked curiously. He swam minutely closer, fin nearly hitting Noctis' feet.

“Blue thing?”

Prompto nodded. “With your fishing rod? I've never seen a human do that before.”

“Oh, it's magic,” Noctis said. He brought his free hand above the water and flicked his wrist. A small can appeared in his hand and Prompto gasped in shock, swimming away. 

He crept back in when Noctis held the can out, reaching for it. It was a real can, solid and full and Prompto examined it while Noctis explained.

“I can put things into the ether, uh... it's kind of like a rip in space? I guess? But once they're there, I can summon them into my hands. Or anyone connected to my magic can summon them,” he told the mer, taking the can back. It vanished in the same flash of blue light.

“Wow.” Prompto was in awe. He grabbed Noctis hand to see if it was a trick and the can was just hiding but there was nothing. It took him a moment to register he was touching the human and quickly dropped his hand, swimming back a few inches. “Sorry.”

Noctis looked at his hand and then back to Prompto. “You feel different than I expected,” he said, laughing softly. “Though I should have realised you'd feel like a human.”

Prompto frowned at the comment. “Why would I feel different?” he asked. “Mers have the same parts as humans.”

“Maybe from the waist up,” Noctis replied. “I don't know. I kinda expected you to have, like, sandpapery skin, like a shark or something.” He scratched at the back of his head, looking away.

“I'm not a shark,” he stated, still frowning at the words.

“I know, I just... sorry,” Noctis stammered. “Humans don't really know anything about mers and there's very few detailed reports on sightings, all of them well over two hundred yers old, and I just kinda thought your skin would be... I don't know... different?”

Prompto was quiet. 

Once Noctis had calmed down from his embarrassment, he spoke again. “Do you think we should meet somewhere more private next time?” he asked, looking to the dock above them. “I mean, I know you always show up really late at night, but there's still a chance other people could wander by. I mean, I did.”

“Where?”

“Oh, there's a dock to the east of Galdin Quay, around the cliff face. It's pretty secluded,” Noctis suggested.

Prompto didn't like the idea much. It could be a trap, there could be humans waiting there to catch him. He shifted uneasily and Noctis noticed it instantly.

“Sh-we don't have to. This place is fine,” he said, frantically waving a hand over the water. 

“Okay,” he said quietly and Noctis stopped babbling. He stared at the mer in shock. “I won't show up if I see other humans but if it's just you, then it's fine.”

Noctis nodded quickly. “Only me. No one else.”

Prompto nodded once. He knew it was a terrible idea to meet with Noctis somewhere so secluded but if there was less of a chance of him being spotted, he'd take it. He hated always being on high alert for humans when all he wanted to do was just relax.

“It's not like Gladio and Ignis even believe me about you, anyway,” Noctis muttered.

There was a tense silence that followed and the realisation of his words had Noctis' eyes snapping to Prompto's face. The look the mer gave him screamed he had said something terribly wrong.

“You-you told others about me?” Prompto breathed, eyes wide with fear. It looked as if he would dart away, never showing himself to Noctis again.

Noctis cursed under his breath. He tried to think of something, anything, that would help the situation he had landed himself in. “They think I made you up,” he said, trying to calm the mer.

“Did you tell any other humans?” he asked, cowering away when Noctis tried to get close. 

“No one. I swear, it was just Ignis and Gladio,” he said quickly, halting his movements. “They said I have no proof you even exist.”

Prompto remained on edge but he made no move to distance himself. “They are the ones who showed up last time?”

“Yeah, the bigger one is Gladio and the one with glasses is Ignis,” Noctis explained, unsure if Prompto even saw the two men for long enough to take in their features. “Ignis is the one who refuses to believe you exist. I was going to ask if I could take your picture but that's probably a really bad idea,” he laughed nervously, rubbing at his arm.

“Picture?” There was a perplexed frown on Prompto's face. He'd heard humans use the word before, usually followed by them pulling out a small box and bringing it up to their face. He never knew what the box did, if it even did anything at all.

Noctis nodded. “I was going to show him a picture of you so he'd stop accusing me of lying,” he said.

“I don't want him to see me. I'm...” He paused, shoulders dropping under the water and drifting farther away. “I'm not supposed to let any humans see me. They might try to catch me and dissect me.”

“I-” Noctis started, biting his lip. 

He couldn't refute what Prompto was saying. He knew most humans would try to catch a mer so they could dissect them. It's what they did when they found a new species of animal. Cut it open and find out how it works. Though the Crown was was trying to put an end to needless experiments and poaching, there were still far too many people who ignored the laws in place to protect animals.

He pushed his hair out of his face with a sigh, looking away. “You don't have to meet with me again, if you think it's too dangerous,” he said softly. “I won't blame you.”

Prompto looked up at him. It was extremely dangerous to keep meeting Noctis. He was risking his life, and potentially the lives of his family, by seeing him. But... he couldn't deny he was intrigued by the human and his world.

“If... if you do still want to meet me, I'll be at the dock I mentioned tomorrow,” Noctis continued. “Around this time.”

“Alone.”

Noctis nodded, “Alone.”

–

“Prompto! Hey, Dave is finally letting me scavenge again. And I know you've been bored out of your mind so you're coming with me,” Dino informed him, his tone not quite sincere, looping an arm over his shoulders. “There's this really old ship I found before you went and got everyone in trouble. Huge thing, lots of rooms to search, and I'm giving you the great opportunity to help a mer out.”

Prompto groaned as he was pulled along towards the edge of the trench. Dino was a great mer but he was also very persistent. Guilt tripping was a favorite tactic of his, second only to blackmail. He was about to protest, say Dave wouldn't want him wandering out of the trench, when Dino cut him off.

“Now, now. Dave said it was fine as long as I was with you,” he smirked.

He had a sneaking suspicion this was more of a punishment, a way to tell Prompto the elder mers didn't trust him on his own anymore. He knew he deserved their distrust. He had broken the rules, more times than they were aware of, but he wouldn't go into details.

With a deep sigh, he relented and followed after the older mer.

They swam for nearly an hour before Prompto even spotted any signs of a shipwreck. It loomed in the distance, dark and eerie. It clearly had been at the bottom of the ocean for a long time, judging by the state of deterioration. A large portion of the side was missing and Prompto wondered if it was the reason it sank. 

Did it hit off the rocks? Though there were no sharp rocks anywhere in the vicinity, especially nothing large enough to cause such significant damage. This area was largely open ocean with only a rather small patch of coral a ways off.

It was also an old style wooden ship, the kind humans used well before Prompto or even Dave was born. Probably older than Prompto's own, Leviathan called parents. The large posts he'd heard held up huge sheets of fabric were resting in multiple pieces on the ocean floor, the fabric sheets nowhere to be found.

“C'mon, Prom,” Dino called, waving him over. “I bet there's loads of shiny things in here. And theyire ours for the taking!”

He rolled his eyes and hurried over, peeking cautiously into the large hole Dino had swam through. Sharks were known to gather around sunken ships, though they were typically harmless to the mers, Prompto was still wary.

A majority of the furniture seemed to have been wooden and was in various states of decay, bits of wood floating about in the gentle lull of the water.

Prompto swam over to an open door and slipped inside. The room was dark, its small, round windows letting in next to no light. He wished he had some glowing barrelfish around to brighten the area. Feeling around the floor, he came across what felt like a collection of sticks, but smoother, more rounded around the edges. He raised the stick to his face, swimming to the closest window to get a better look at it. It took a few minutes of turning it in his hands, examining every inch of it, before Prompto realised what he was holding.

“Holy shit!” He dropped the stick and quickly fled the room, back out into the main chamber, nearly crashing into Dino. “There's human bones in there!”

“Wait, really? They must have been hiding the good treasure,” Dino grinned, leaving Prompto and entering the room. “Wow, it's dark in here.”

Prompto slowly made his way back to the room door, peering into the darkness. He could just make out Dino's pale green tail, his eyes slowly becoming acclimated to the shadows.

“Check it out!” Dino called, coming back to the door with a large, round golden object in his hands. It was taller on one side, with five now dulled spikes raising up. It glinted in the light filtering through the large hole, gemstones in three colors set into the taller side of it. The thinner side was more of a solid band, only as thick as two of Prompto's fingers all the way around until it shot up sharply when it met the front. He placed it on his own head and struck a pose. “Pretty awesome, right?”

“It's so shiny,” Prompto said in awe. The color of the blue gemstones reminded him of the magic Noctis used. He wondered if he could find something to bring to the human. Would he even accept a trinket from this ship? He wouldn't know without trying.

“I bet there's more hiding in this room alone,” Dino said, placing the round trinket on the floor near the hole, giving it a soft pat. “Let's go search it. Unless you're scared?”

Prompto puffed his chest up, bristling indignantely. “I'm not scared!” He knew the other mer was trying to get a rise out of him. He ignored the smirk on Dino's face and swam past him, into the dark room. He purposely avoided the side where he had found the skeleton, feeling around the far side of the room for anything unique.

Dino searched along the opposite side of the room, tossing items he deemed unworthy over his shoulder.

They searched in relative silence, only broken by Dino letting out a gasp when he found an unusual item. He'd carry them over to the first trinket, placing them beside it before coming back for more. 

Even Prompto knew this was a good ship for trinkets. Dino typically only came back with one or two shiny items after a scavenge, if he found anything at all. Today, he had already found four items, all extremely shiny and glittering with gemstones, and they had only searched through one of the ships many rooms.

Prompto had found nothing of note. It figured the good stuff was over with the skeleton. He grumbled to himself, feeling around inside a wooden box. His fingers came across a small circular object and he carried it into the light.

It was a ring, black in color with foggy white gemstones set down each side. In the center was a flat surface and a shape carved into it, like the pronged objects Dino had been known to find, but three prongs instead of four. The side ones were pointed just outwards from the middle, unlike the prongs on the trinkets Dino found, which all went in the same direction.

“Find something good?” Dino asked, leaning over his shoulder. “Oh, nice. I've never seen one that color before. Since you found it, it's yours to keep,” he said, gathering up his trinkets, now five in total.

“Really? It's mine?”

Dino nodded, slipping the two large round trinkets around his arm, one fitting perfectly on his bicep, the other much looser. He carried the remaining items in his hands, all of them fairly small. “Let's head home before Dave sends a search party,” he laughed.

Prompto hurried after him, grateful to be far away from the skeleton. He kept turning the ring over in his hands and wondered if Noctis would like it. He had no need for the trinket, it would only get lost in his room, but Noctis could keep it safe.

With a determined nod, he decided he'd take the ring with him when he visited the human that night.

–

Noctis groaned, flopping back to the dock with a heavy thud. He had told Ignis and Gladio that Prompto didn't want to meet them but they insisted on following him. He kicked his feet in the water, tilting his head to glare upside down at the two men standing at the foot of the pier. “Guys, seriously,” he whined. “He's not going to show if you're here.”

“What's two more people knowing he exists going to do?” Gladio asked, walking over to Noctis. He crouched down with a grunt, poking him in the forehead. “I just want to see him then I'll go.”

Noctis swatted his hand away, sitting up and looking out to the dark water. There were far less glowing barrelfish out here than there were near the restaurant, hardly lighting up the water at all.

“I'm still of the mind that you're simply making this mermaid up,” Ignis stated, arms crossed over his chest.

“He's not a mermaid. He's a mer,” Noctis huffed. “And he's going to think I broke my promise when I told him I'd be alone. Now, please leave.”

Ignis flinched at the toned, shooting Noctis a sour look. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, turning away from the pier. “If you're not back in the room within an hour, I will be coming to fetch you,” he said, heading off over the small beach. Gladio gave the sea one last look before following Ignis' lead, leaving Noctis alone on the isolated pier.

“Finally,” he sighed. He lied on his back for a few minutes, waiting for the two to be fully out of sight before he once again sat back up. He only hoped Prompto hadn't already shown up, seen them, and decided Noctis couldn't be trusted. He wouldn't blame him, of course. The mer had plenty of reasons to never show himself to Noctis again.

Kicking his feet gently through the water, Noctis leaned back on his hands, waiting.

He jumped when a hand shot up out of the water, slapping the wood lightly.

“Shiva's tits!” he yelped, yanking his legs out of the water, crossing his ankles and pulling his knees to his chest. Prompto's torso appeared seconds later, the mer giving him a strange look, as Noctis clutched at his chest. “You scared the shit out of me,” he said, laughing weakly.

“Are they gone?” Prompto whispered, trying to peer over the dock towards the beach. When Noctis nodded, he let out a sigh of relief. “They scare me. Especially that one with the sharp tone.”

“Sharp... you mean Ignis?” 

Prompto turned to Noctis in confusion. 

“The one who didn't come down to the end of the pier,” he clarified, getting a nod.

“He seems mean. Why does he talk to you like that?”

Noctis returned his legs to the water and leaned his elbows on his knees. “He's not really mean, just strict. He's also there to make sure I don't do anything to tarnish my family's image,” he said.

Prompto didn't completely understand but he nodded regardless. “Oh, I found something today,” he grinned, bringing his free hand out of the water and holding it out to Noctis. He opened his fist to reveal the black ring. “Dino and I went scavenging today in this really old ship and I found this ring. Isn't it neat?”

“Can I take a closer look?” Noctis asked, squinting when he saw the symbol. Prompto nodded and he took the ring into his fingers, turning it this way and that way. He couldn't make out the carving in the dim moonlight and brought of his phone, turning its flashlight on.

Prompto recoiled back at the far too bright light.

“You said you found this in an old ship?”

Prompto nodded, curiously creeping back over when he realised the light wouldn't hurt him.

“Prompto, this is my family's sigil,” Noctis said in awe.

“Sigil? What's that?”

“It's like-” There was a pause and Noctis turned the light off, setting his phone on the pier. “It's our crest, a symbol so people know if something belongs to us. I think my dad once told me a story about a great-aunt or something who dissappeared on a voyage across the sea to Accordo. This ring must be over a hundred years old.” He held the ring back out to Prompto, who had grabbed the dock with both hands.

“I wanted you to keep it,” he said. “If it belongs to your family, you should definitely keep it.”

Noctis kept his hand out, the ring in his palm. “Are you sure? You did find it after all.”

“I have no use for it. It would just get lost in my room or a fish would try to eat it,” Prompto told him. “Or Cor might think I got it from you and I told him I wouldn't come back to the cities.”

“Is Cor your dad?”

Prompto folded his arms on the dock, resting his chin on them, and hummed. Noctis took note of the small fins on his forearms, as well as the larger one he could see running down his spine. There were small patches of scales surrounding each fin. “You could call him that. My birth parents were old when I was born and mers raise their families together. They were called to Leviathan when I was still young and Cor and Monica took over from them. We were already living in the same home cave so it was easier for them to raise me than to have me move to a new cave,” he told Noctis.

Noctis frowned at the term 'called to Leviathan' and wondered if it meant they had died. “So, Cor and Monica are more like your siblings?”

Prompto shrugged. While his parents weren't also their parents, they did help raise both Cor and Monica. “We're not related by parents,” he said after a minute, “and they're both twice my age.”

“What about this Dino you mentioned? Is he your brother?” Noctis asked. He was curious about the family structures of mers, though he tried to keep his questions light. The last thing he wanted to do was to scare the mer away by being too invasive.

Prompto made a face at the idea and Noctis laughed.

“I'll take that as a no.”

Prompto looked up at him then, eyebrows raised. “Do you have siblings and parents? You mentioned your dad, but do you have a mother?” he asked.

Noctis was slightly taken aback. It seemed he didn't need to skirt around when he asked questions if Prompto was going to be so inquisitive with him. “I only have my dad, though Gladio and Ignis are sort of like brothers. We were raised together since we were young,” he revealed. He blinked, body jumping when Prompto pulled himself from the water, sitting on the pier next to him.

“Was your mother called to Leviathan, too?” he asked softly.

“Y-yeah. I was three when she... when she left,” he said, eyes trailing over Prompto's tail. It was stunning, long and sleek, silver in color and seemed to glow in the soft moonlight. “Ignis started to help raise me then, even though he had only just turned six.” Turning his eyes back to the mer's face, he asked, “How old do mers live to?”

Prompto shrugged one shoulder before replying. “Depends really. My parents were about seventy from what Cor told me. Our family leader is around fifty and Cor is a few years younger than him, though I've heard of mers who lived to be over a hundred. What about humans? Is it longer?”

“It's about the same,” Noctis said, taking in the new information. “Most humans usually live between sixty and eighty years, but some have lived much longer. Both my dad and Gladio's dad are in their fifties.” He looked back down to the ring in his hand, turning in slightly before he tried it on his right ring finger. It was too small. He had heard his missing great-aunt was a fairly petit woman. Trying the ring on his pinky finger worked and he held his hand out to smile at the piece of jewelry.

“Do you have many rings?” Prompto asked, watching Noctis.

“Nah, I'm not really a jewelry kind of guy,” he said lightly. “But this could be right up my alley.”

Prompto made a noise in confusion at the phrase, tilting his head.

“I mean, I like it,” Noctis laughed. “It's my style. Nothing flashy or too bright.”

“Ah! I understand,” Prompto grinned. “Like Dino's alley would be bright and flashy. He loves shiny trinkets, the brighter, the better.”

“Are all mers attracted to shiny things?” Noctis asked.

Prompto shook his head, leaning back on his hands. “He just likes those kinds of things.”

“What about you?”

Prompto pursed his lips. “I like the human cities,” he said after a few minutes of thought. “I like the way they're lit up when it's late and no humans are around. And I like the sound of the waves when they reach the sand.” He looked over to Noctis when he fell quiet, waiting to see if the human would speak.

“I like fishing,” Noctis mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. Would that be offensive to someone who's half fish? Prompto had told him before that he also eats fish so maybe it would be alright.

“Do you eat them or put them in tanks?”

The tone of the question took him off guard. Prompto sounded... concerned? No, that wasn't right. Noctis couldn't place the emotion. “I eat them,” he replied, brow furrowed slightly. “I don't have a fish tank at home.”

He could see when Prompto relaxed, the tension leaving his shoulders and face as he looked out to the sea. Had the mer been worried that Noctis thought of fish, and to an extent the mer himself, as pets? He thought it best to not mention the large aquarium on the roof of the Citadel, even if it wasn't his.

Noctis turned his attention to the sea as well, leaning back onto his hands. The horizon was just starting to change, the deep blue subltly filtering into shades of pink. He distantly wondered if it had been an hour since Ignis and Gladio left him, if they would be returning to retrieve the wayward prince. He hadn't thought to check the time.

“I should probably be going,” Prompto said softly. He kept his eyes on the water. “Will you be here tomorrow?”

“Yeah. But I'm leaving Galdin Quay the day after tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'll be back though,” Noctis told him. “But I'll be on this pier whenever I can return.”

Prompto smiled, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards for a brief second. He slipped back into the water, fingers on the edge of the pier, and looked up at Noctis. “I'll look for more trinkets from the shipwreck, if Dino let's me come along again.”

Noctis nodded and watched him dive under the water, tail swiftly flicking out of sight. He sat there for a some minutes more, eyes on the brightening sky, lost in thought.

“Noctis? It's been over an hour,” Ignis called, stepping onto the dock. “Did your mermaid friend ever show up?”

Noctis closed his eyes, letting out an annoyed breath. “He's a mer. And yes, he did show up.” He stood and turned to face the two older men. “In fact, he was here before you two left and he told me you,” he pointed at Ignis, “scare him.”

Ignis' shoulders jumped up and a hand went to his chest. “I wouldn't even scare a child,” he stated, clearly upset with the accusation.

“I don't know, you can be pretty intense when you're angry, Iggy,” Gladio said, agreeing with Noctis.

Ignis turned with a huff, stalking off towards the beach. The other two men followed slowly after him, giving him space. 

“Hey, what's that you're wearing?” Gladio asked, pointing to the ring on Noctis' finger.

“Oh.” He brought the hand up, showing off the black ring. “Prompto said he found it in a shipwreck. I think it was my great-aunt's. See? It's got the Lucis Caelum sigil on it and everything.” 

–

“Iggy, why don't you cut Noct a break?” Gladio asked, watching the man scowl at the prince, who, in turn, was doing everything in his power to ignore the irate adviser.

“Because he has been shirking his duties to the crown,” he said, scathingly as he dropped a folder onto the desk. “All this 'mermaid' nonsense needs to stop.”

Noctis set his jaw and shoved the folder away, not once taking his eyes off his comic book.

“You father will refuse to allow you to venture to Galdin Quay for lesiure if you keep this attitude up,” Ignis informed him. “Even he has noticed the drop in your attendence.”

Gladio walked over to the two men, placing a hand on the folder Ignis was trying to slide in front of Noctis again. “How do you explain the ring and official seal Noctis got if his mermaid,” Noctis shot him a glare at the term, “his mer friend didn't get it for him?”

Ignis said nothing and crossed his arms. 

“You saw them yourself. You know they were lost at sea with the King's great-aunt,” Gladio continued. “There's no way Noct could have been hiding them and he can't scuba dive with that whole fear of drowning thing he's got, so he clearly couldn't have gotten them himself from the bottom of the ocean.”

“I don't know how to explain them,” Ignis snapped, closing his eyes and tilting his head back. He was quiet for a time, just breathing deeply. “I am sorry for my outburst,” he said after a few moments. He removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes. “I will excuse myself for the evening.”

Noctis and Gladio exchanged looks as the door closed behind Ignis.

“He's taking this whole mer situation far too seriously,” Gladio finally said. “I believe you, even if he doesn't. Well, mostly. I'd still prefer to meet your friend to see that he's actually real.”

Noctis rolled his eyes and said the same thing he had told the two time and time again. “He doesn't trust humans. He's really only just starting to trust me after he found out I told you two about him.”

“You can't just tell him I won't tell anyone?” Gladio asked, leaning his ass against the desk.

Noctis stared up at him, resting his comic against his stomach.

“Alright, alright. I got it. No means no,” Gladio sighed. “You'd better get to reading that file, by the way. I won't be held responsible if Iggy decides to kill you with those looks of his.”

There was a barking laugh as Noctis shook his head, waving the man off. “Yeah, yeah. I'll get them read before bed.”

–

“Iggy, talk to me,” Gladio said the second he entered the other man's room. His tone was light but firm, insistant and Ignis knew he'd find some way to weasel the truth out of him. He always found a way to get Ignis to open up.

Ignis remained silent, his back to the taller man.

“Something's bothering you,” Gladio went on, “and if you don't talk, I can't help. There's got to be more to this mermaid business than you're letting on.”

Ignis' shoulders stiffened at the words and Gladio moved closer, standing just behins him.

“Don't tell me you're a mermaid,” he teased.

“Don't be ridiculous,” Ignis shot, turning his head to glare at the man. His next words died on his tongue when Gladio cupped a hand under his chin, turning him to face him completely.

“You're jealous of Noct's new friend.” It wasn't a question, merely a comment, one that had Ignis casting his eyes away.

“I'm not jealous. I just...” he trailed off. Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes and spoke. “I don't like it when he hides things from us. I feel as if he doesn't trust us with this secret of his.” There was a pause, another breath. “And I'm not particulary fond of fairy tales.”

Gladio removed his hand from Ignis' face, crossing his arms loosely over his chest. “He's not exactly hiding it, even if he hasn't told us much about his friend.” The room was quiet for a moment, Gladio watching Ignis, looking for any sign that there may have been more Ignis wasn't telling him. “So, you do believe Noct?” he asked after finding nothing.

“Of course I do. As hard as it may be for me to accept, I do think he's telling the truth about this mermaid. He is a terrible liar, after all,” Ignis replied, looking him in the eye.

Gladio chuckled at that. “Remember when he tried to claim the porn under his bed was mine?”

Ignis let out a soft laugh through his nose, shaking his head at the memory.

–

“What's that thing humans do with their faces?” Prompto asked. He was sat on the end of the pier with Noctis, swishing his tail through the water, teasing the barrelfish that were attempting to nibble at the fins.

Noctis looked up from his phone, having been showing Prompto pictures he had taken of Insomnia specifically because the mer wanted to see what his home looked like. He stared at Prompto for a minute, utterly confused by the question. “Thing they do with their faces? Show emotion?”

“I know what emotion is,” Prompto huffed. “I'm not stupid. I mean, when they press their face to another person's, like this.” He leaned over and pressed his face into Noctis' cheek, nose nearly poking him in the eye.

When he pulled back, Noctis was red in the face and actively avoiding looking him in the eye. It was Prompto's turn to be confused, but he started explaining the action again, hoping it would help get him an answer.

“I've seen adult humans do it to their children and I thought it was a form of protection, since they only do it before the child enters the water while they stay on land. But I've also seen adult humans do it to each other and it's... it's.” He paused, thinking up the word that would fit what he had seen. “More... aggressive? One time they started getting undressed but they didn't come into the water. Although I did swim away before the had the chance to spot me.”

Noctis glanced back over to the mer, placing his phone on the dock behind him. Prompto truly had no idea what the action was or what it meant. Noctis really had hoped he'd never have to explain this to someone in his lifetime. Having both his dad and Ignis explain kissing and sex when he was fourteen had been the single worst experience in his life. He had thought he would die from the embarrassment alone, not to mention the near constant teasing Gladio had given him in the aftermath.

He never hid porn magazines of any kind under his bed again.

Steeling himself, he took a breath and let it out slowly. All he had to do was tell Prompto what a kiss is. He's twenty. _I can do this._

“Th-that's called a kiss,” he said, voice squeaking slightly. _Off to a great start there, Noct._

Prompto raised his eyebrows, curiosity written all over his face.

Noctis swallowed. “It's an act of love. When a parent does it to a child, it's to show the child they care about them. Though it's a completely different kind of love when it's two adults. Like,” he started waving his hands in front of him as he tried to explain, “it's still love and showing they care, but it's... it's different.” He dropped his hands, looking away. “It's usually a-a personal, intimate thing.”

That got Prompto's attention. “I'm sorry! I didn't know it was personal,” he fretted, shifting away a few inches. “I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry!”

Noctis waved him off, kicking his feet in the cool water. “It's fine. I mean, you didn't even do it right, so it wasn't really a kiss in the first place.” When he saw Prompto's bewildered face, he chuckled. “You're supposed to pucker your lips,” he said, pointing to his own mouth. “Oh, and you need the other person's permission before you do it. If you don't have that, you don't kiss them.”

“Oh!” Prompto jumped, clapping his hands together and holding them in front of his chest. “Because they might not want to kiss, right?”

“Exactly. Not everyone wants to kiss someone.”

“It's like some mers don't have a partner to mate with because they don't want one,” Prompto smiled, placing his hands on his tail. “Cor and Monica don't have one so they stay together to raise me, but they sleep in different rooms of our home.”

The new information had Noctis' head filling with questions. Why did this Cor and Monica stay together if they weren't partners? Did mers have a single life partner or did they have multiple ones to ensure they produced offspring? How many kids did they have at a time? What was the average family size? “How old are mers when they find a partner?”

Prompto hummed, stretching his tail out to its full length and holding it on the surface of the water for a few seconds before letting it sink back. “It's usually about my age but a lot of times it's later. Maybe around thirty five?”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty. You?

Noctis smiled. “I'm twenty, as well. Hey, how long is your tail?” he asked, changing the subject so he wouldn't start thinking about the mating rituals of mers.

Prompto raised his tail, breaking the surface of the water again, and looked down at it, thinking. “I don't know, but it's one of the longest in our family.”

“C-can I touch it?” He saw the way Prompto tensed at the question and waited, looking him in the eye. When the mer nodded, Noctis slipped into the water. He regretted the action once he felt the full force of the temperature and shivered. “I don't know how you can stand this water,” he laughed, teeth chattering lightly.

“It's not that bad,” Prompto said, intensely watching as Noctis placed his fingers on his tail, stroking down the scales. It tickled and he shifted, pinching his lips together to hold in the laugh.

“Gods,” Noctis gasped, running his fingers down Prompto's tail. “It must be nearly nine foot long.” He glanced up when he heard a noise and the tail jerked underneath his hand. Prompto appeared to be just barely holding in his laughter. “Oh, sorry. I didn't know it tickles,” he said, swimming back to the pier.

Prompto dropped his tail when Noctis pulled himself back up beside him. “It's fine. I probably should have warned you I was ticklish,” he said, rubbing his hands over the top of his tail, where his thighs would be if he was human. He hummed and looked around.

When Noctis couldn't take the silence anymore, he spoke. “Hey, do you want me to bring you something next time? Something Cor might not know it from the human world?”

“I don't know.” Prompto bit his lip, dropping his head. “He hasn't been suspicious lately but if I just show up with something that I didn't find with Dino, he'd probably never let me leave home again.”

“Oh, well... h-how about a book?” Noctis suggested, pushing his hair from his face. It stuck to his forehead. “I could bring a book so you could learn more about my world.”

“Won't it get wet? Books are paper, right? They never survive in sunken ships,” Prompto pointed out, causing Noctis to flush with embarrassment.

How could he forget books are made paper? He should have thought of something else, something that wouldn't get damaged because of wet hands.

“I'd like to see a book,” Prompto smiled, “but I can't read your language.”

“You cant?”

Prompto shook his head, leaning on his tail.

“But you speak it so well,” Noctis stated.

“I learned by listening, remember?”

Noctis blinked at him. “How did you know this town is called Galdin Quay, then?”

“I heard a lot of humans say it. It's always 'Galdin Quay is so lovely this time of year' and 'Can we come back to Galdin Quay next summer?'” he explained, shrugging his shoulders. “Figured it must be the name of this city. Personally, I like this city in the colder months. Not as many humans so I don't have to worry as much about being spotted.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, the water lapping at their legs and tail. Noctis pulled his feet out of the water, hugging his knees to his chest. The wind was starting to pick up, chilling him. Next time he visited, he'd have to remember to keep his feet out of the water. Even Galdin Quay gets cold in the winter time.

“I could bring a picture book,” Noctis said, breaking the silence. “Show you what the rest of Lucis looks like. I have one at home that I don't mind if it gets a little wet.”

Prompto hummed, flicking his tail and leaning back onto his palms. “I heard there's vast areas filled with sand and no water. Is that true?”

“Yeah. A lot of Leide is a desert. That's north of here,” he said, pointing behind them. “It's just a lot of dry trees, sand, and rocks up there. Really hot, too. But you can really see the stars there at night.” He looked up to the sky, noting the imminent sunrise sadly. Prompto always went home around this time.

“I'd like to see what it looks like,” Prompto smiled, turning his eyes to the horizon as well. “I better get going before I'm missed.”

Noctis nodded, watching him slid off the pier with a small splash.

“When will you be back?” he asked, holding onto the wood.

Noctis made a soft noise. “I'm not sure. It might not be for a month or so.” Prompto frowned at that. “I got a lot of work to do at home right now but once it's done, I'll try to come down for at least a full week.”

Prompto nodded, face brightening up at the revelation. “I'll watch for you then,” he said and slipped underneath the waves, dashing away.

“He's not much for goodbyes, is he?” Noctis mumbled to himself, shaking his head. He stood from the pier, scooped up his phone, and walked back to the beach. He shivered when the breeze hit him and hurried back to the hotel. At that moment, all he wanted was a hot shower and a warm bed.

–

There was a sound in the waves, like that of a large school of fish dispersing quickly, fleeing from a predator. It was an unusual noise to hear in this part of the ocean.

Prompto stopped, squinting around the area. It only took him seconds to spot the school heading straight towards him. His eyes opened wide and he took off, away from the fish and what had frightened them.

A net. And a gigantic one at that. It swept through the water, scooping up its prize, trapping the fish within its ropes.

Prompto went with them, screaming for anyone to save him. He tried to worm his way to the ropes, reaching out and shoving the fish away with little success.

“Help! Help!” he screamed out, finally getting a hand on the rope, tugging himself closer.

“Prompto!” It was Cor. 

He spotted him swimming closer before the swirling mass of fish sucked him back in. “Cor! Help!” he cried. He could feel the water pressure changing, knew he was being pulled from the ocean. He'd never survive.

He was going to be cut open, taken apart piece by piece, by some human. He didn't want that. He struggled as the net was pulled out of the water, the weight of the fish crushing him for the few minutes he was suspended in the air, before the bottom dropped out underneath him. He landed with a heavy thud on a hard surface, fish flailing on top of, underneath, and around him.

“What the fuck? Hey, Regal! Check this out!” a voice yelled out. Prompto had never heard it before. It was gruff yet feminine, higher pitched than his own.

“Six be damned!” A new voice, deep like Cor's, and he shoved himself back, away from the voices. “It's a mermaid!”

The owner of the feminine voice, a human in an red outfit, stepped over to him, reaching out. 

Prompto hissed, brandishing his teeth and claws, trying to scratch at the human. He wouldn't give them the chance to cut him up, he'd fight with everything he had. He turned and crawled across the floor of the boat, trying to reach the side. 

He didn't see the owner of the second voice until it was too late. He was shoved forward, body squashed to the floor, arm pinned behind his back. He hissed again, thrashing about.

“Don't hurt him,” the first voice said sternly. 

Prompto tried to slap the human on top of his with his tail. He felt it make contact but the human only grunted, adjusting his weight. Prompto whined, the hand around his wrist twisting sharply. A knee was wedged into his spine, forcing him even closer to the deck.

“Put him in the tank,” the first voice ordered, opening the lid on the floor. “I bet the guys at Aquatic Research will pay a lot for a mermaid.”

He was yanked off the ground, the human behind him grasping both his arms and practically dragging him to the opening. He barely caught a glimpse of the second human, large, well built, even bigger than Cor, before he was dropped unceremoniously into the 'tank'.

It was a large box, barely two feet of water at the bottom. Prompto screamed and lunged at the wall, slamming his shoulder into it. He needed to get out. He had to escape. They were going to cut him up like some fish. He hit the wall again and again and again, crying out. He tried scratching at the walls, the floor, the lid itself, banging on them, to no avail. 

Nothing worked.

His body ached and fingers bled. He curled up in the corner, making himself as small as possible.

The voices from the humans filtered through the lid and he tried to not focus on them. It was hard.

“...really pay us for a mermaid?” the deep voice asked. “What if they think we're making it up?”

“We'll tell them cash on delivery is fine,” the other voice replied. “This is the biggest discovery in decades!”

“If you say so, Presea.”

–

“...a fighter, you're probably going to have to tranq him.”

Prompto stirred at the voices. Tranq? What did that mean? Were they talking about him?

“About teenage in size, is my guess,” the voice continued, though he didn't hear a second voice. “Maybe a young adult.” A pause. “His top half is average human in size. Yeah.” Another pause. “Alright, we'll be in Galdin in half an hour.”

“Well?” It was the deeper voice this time. He pushed himself up quietly, leaning against the wall to get close to the lid, straining to hear the words.

“They're not paying as much as I'd like but they're compromising by putting our names on the discovery,” the first voice replied.

“How much?”

There was silence for a moment where Prompto could only hear the sound of the waves as the boat made its way through the water. “Ten thousand each.”

A whistle came at that. “More than I expected.”

–

“Get the tank ready.”

It was a new voice yelling out orders. Prompto pressed himself as close to the corner as he could, hoping against all hope that he would slip through it. Light streamed into the tank and he hissed when it hit him in the eyes, holding an arm up to block most of it. The lid was open. He could try to make a break for it, slip back into the sea, dash home.

A sharp prick to his bicep had him jumping, back clattering hard with the wall. His eyes shot to the spot. There was something sticking out of his arm. Something he had never seen before.

He reached for it, swatting it off his body.

His head felt heavy and his hand landing awkwardly on his elbow in his attempt.

He tried again. This time he managed to hit the item. It dropped into the water, the tiny splash almost unheard as his head swayed.

It was a struggle to keep his eyes open. He tried to turn his head up to glare at the humans, but it was difficult. His body slumped against the wall, slipping underneath the water in the tank.

_What did they do to me?!_

“Let's get him into the new tank,” the new voice said.

He watched as the large human from earlier jumped into his tank, barely avoiding his tail. He flinched and tried to hiss, barring his teeth.

“Easy now,” the human cooed, trying to sooth him.

It set him further on edge. His body was lifted out of the water, limp in the humans arms, and he distantly wondered if they were setting him free.

“You really did a number on yourself, didn't you?” the human asked, earning no response other than a soft whine.

Hands were grabbing him under the arms, hauling him onto the deck. He could see the sky above, rich and bright and blue. The sun was high, shining harshly in his eyes. He closed them.

There was a new sensation of water, fresh and clean, and his eyes snapped back open, ready to swim away from the humans. His hand shot out, connecting with a hard, clear surface.

It was a new tank.

Prompto watched as the lid, clear like the walls, was lowered, secured in place. He tried to get his body to move, feeling sluggish and slow. He could see his vision getting fuzzier around the edges until everything was a blur, finally ending in solid darkness.

–

When he came to, Prompto was still in the new, clear tank, but he could no longer see the sky. There was a bright surface overhead, strips of light, cold unlike the sun, shone down on him. He could hear humans talking and watched them crouch nearby.

“Those are pretty serious bruises,” one said. Their voice was high, young sounding. It grated on his ears and made his head pound.

Or maybe that was whatever they did to him to make him fall asleep.

“They said he was trying to escape? Hitting the tank with his body?” the voice asked, look over Prompto's chest and arms. He shrunk back, body twitching with the movement.

“That's what they said,” a second voice replied. It was soft, caring, almost like Monica's. “They do look self inflicted.” The human frowned when she spotted his hands. “Looks like he's injured his fingers, too. We might have to treat it.”

The first human walked over and Prompto cowered, pulling his hands to his chest. He didn't want them to look at him. To decide where to cut him first. He tried to curl up on himself, wrapping his tail around his body. The movement pulled at his shoulders, stinging them. He whimpered softly.

“We might need to check to see if he's pulled anything,” the second voice said. She moved to open the lid and Prompto tensed. “Hey, can you understand me? We're not going to hurt you.”

Prompto curled up further, tighter, and winced. A hand touched his shoulder and he jumped, moving as fast as he could to escape.

He didn't get far. The lid snapped back on him before his fingers even reached the edge.

“Well, that worked,” the first voice said, sarcasm lacing her tone. “Let's put him in his tank for now and monitor him.”

Prompto was aware of his tank moving, shifting and rocking as it was raised into the air. He flailed, slamming his hands onto the bottom. His tail smacked the sides, desperate for the walls to break. One of the humans was waving her arm, pointing behind him with the other. He glanced back. There was a bigger tank, taller than Prompto was long, and it was getting closer.

As he watched, eyes wide, he moved away from it, as far as he could, pressing against the walls of his tank. Then he was falling. The water was warm, like the shallows near Galdin Quay in the summer, but warmer, uncomfortable and far too salty. He was frantic, swimming towards the sides, hitting the walls with his fists and body, doing everything he could to escape.

His body ached like it was on fire, fingers stung from the small cuts around his claws. There were deep red and blue splotches on his arms from his attempts to break out. He darted his eyes around the enclosure, searching for something, anything.

A small cave caught his eye; he darted over, ducking inside and curling up as far in as he could. If they couldn't get to him, he'd be safe.

He hoped.

–

Gladio looked over when Ignis let out a scoff. The man had been reading the news on his tablet when he let out the noise, shaking his head. He leaned in, grabbed Ignis' hand, and read the headline. “Insomnia Aquatic Research Facility aquires mermaid. The creature, a young adult male, was donated to the facility by fishermen Regal Bryant and Presea Combatir, who caught it in their fishing net off the coast of Galdin Quay.”

“What a load of tripe,” Ignis mocked, rolling his eyes. He didn't take notice of the way Noctis stiffened in his seat, pen dropping to the desk. “It's most likely the same as the last 'mermaid' that was found. A lesser daemon stitched to a fish.”

“Iggy,” Gladio started, giving the man a callous look, “it say it's a live mermaid.” he touched the screen, highlighting the word. “Pretty sure they'd know right off the bat if it was a lesser daemon.”

“We need to go there,” Noctis ordered, standing from his desk. “Right now.”

“Noctis, please be re-”

“I said now.”

Ignis flinched at the tone, but kept eye contact with the prince. “Very well,” he sighed, casting his eyes down. “I will go and prepare a car.” Without another look to Noctis, he stood, turned, and exited the room.

“I doubt it's your friend,” Gladio said softly, trying to ease the tension of the room.

Noctis ignored the man, stalking over to his closet and grabbing out a jacket. Pulling it on, he stepped into his boots, not bothering to lace them, and headed for the door, pausing only long enough to glance back at Gladio. “You coming or not?”

He was out the door before Gladio even stood from the couch.

Gladio rushed after Noctis, grabbing his arm to slow him down. Noctis wretched it from his hand, barely slowing down at all.

They met Ignis in the parking garage, only a few minutes behind the man, startling him. “I don't think so,” he said, holding the keys out of Noctis' reach when he tried to swipe them. “I will not be held responsible if you break the law in your current mental state. In the passenger seat.”

Noctis scowled, jumping for the keys. He missed and scowled again before begrudgingly climbing into the car.

The ride to the facility was arduous, Noctis insisting Ignis drive faster and Ignis doing everything in his power to control himself and not turn the car around. Gladio sat in the back, eyeing the other two men. The tension was stifling; so thick he could cut it with a knife.

When the building came into view, Noctis' knees shook more, thumping on the floorboard as he shifted in his seat.

“If you'll please calm yourself,” Ignis gritted out, fingers tight on the wheel. “And you will conduct yourself in a manner befitting a prince.”

Noctis huffed out. He took deep breaths as the car pulled into the parking lot. “Fine, just-let's get in there.”

Ignis nodded, glancing back to Gladio in the rearview mirror. He stepped out of the car while Noctis took another deep breath, holding it this time. Gladio followed after, opening the door for his charge. 

When Noctis let of the breath, opening his eyes, he had a calm presence about him, one 'befitting a prince', as Ignis would say. He exited the car, straightening out his jacket and lacing up his shoes, before leading the way to the center's front door. Questions started swirling through his head as he drew closer.

Would they let him see the mer they caught? Would they refuse him, even if he is the prince? Could he demand his way in? What if it was Prompto? Would he be able to get him out and back to the sea? He felt sick to his stomach when he pulled the door open.

“Oh my, is that the prince?” a voice asked, failing at keeping their tone low.

“He's so handsome,” another voice whispered.

Noctis held back his groan. He stopped at the front desk, placing an arm on its light grey formica top, and cleared his throat.

“Pr-Your Highness!” the man behind the desk gasped, stepping back. He quickly moved back in position, smoothing down his dress shirt. “W-what can I do for you today?”

“I read in the news you found a mermaid,” Noctis said, proud his voice was calmer than his nerves would ever be. “I was wondering if it was possible to see it?”

_Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes._

“O-of course, Highness!” the man said, practically jumping at the chance to keep speaking to the prince. “I-if you'll all follow me. We keep him in the back.” He rounded the desk and held an arm out, leading them through a door marked 'Staff Only'. “We haven't learned much about him yet, only that he was found in the Cygillian Ocean about an hour south of Galdin Quay.”

Noctis' nerves almost stopped him in his tracks. Ignis' hand on his back kept him walking. He barely focused on what the man was saying.

They entered a wide room with a large aquarium to their right, a few desks with computers to their left and two doors along the back.

“He's been hiding in the small rock cave since he arrived, three days ago,” the man said, just as an older woman looked up at the new faces in the room. “We're not sure if he has some means of eating as he refusing to come out, even with our coaxing.”

Noctis made a beeline for the tank, tapping on the glass. He heard Ignis make a noise in the back of his throat, like he wanted to stop the prince's actions. 

The two employees in the room tensed, eyes darting between the Noctis and the tank. They gasped when the creature shot out of the cave, nearly colliding with the glass, fists banging on the wall between him and Noctis.

Noctis' eyes widened, focusing on the old bruises littering Prompto's arms, shades of purple and black and green covering the once flawless skin. The sight of them angered him, believing the researchers had harmed Prompto when he arrived. It would explain why he had refused to come out of his hiding spot. He placed his hands on the glass, Prompto scrambling for them, becoming more frustrated and scared as he couldn't touch him.

Gladio rushed out a silent curse behind him, eyes wide. “Six be damned.”

Ignis could not believe his eyes and, for a brief moment, was rendered speechless.

“Release him,” Noctis demanded. He turned to face the researchers, one hand still on the glass.

The words snapped Ignis from his stupor, blinking quickly. He searched his memory for something that could help the situation.

Prompto watched as he leaned in, whispering in Noctis' ear. He didn't like all these humans staring at him, like he was an oddity. He banged on the glass where Noctis' hand rested.

“You are aware it is illegal to keep mammals in captivity,” Noctis said, shoulders untensing. He'd thank Ignis for his quick thinking later. “I could easily have the funding to this facility cut for such a crime.”

The researchers floundered at the threat. “He's a fish, Highness.”

Noctis looked back to Prompto, who banged on the glass once more. “I've never seen a fish that's half human. And, last time I checked, humans are mammals,” he stated.

“B-but he's the only one of his kind,” the man tried.

“How do you know?”

There was no answer. Noctis took his phone from his pocket, tapping at the screen. “I guess I'll have to talk to the King about what to do with your offence,” he said coolly. He knew this was considered blackmailing them. The King would scold him severely when he finds out. If he gets off lightly, that is.

The researchers fretted, both trying to speak at once. “The fastest we can get a transport truck ready is an hour,” the woman said, already bringing her phone to her ear. He heard her mumbling something about 'being a waste' but decided to ignore it.

Looking back to Prompto, Noctis stepped forward. He didn't say anything to the mer, not wanting to let the researchers know he personally knew him, but he gave him the tiniest of nods, hoping Prompto would understand.

Gladio was still eyeing up the mer, taking in the length of his tail, the sheen of his skin, the fins and webbing and gills. He frowned at the bruising, just as Noctis had.

“He will need to be returned in the same general area he was captured,” Ignis said, speaking up. “You said it was south of Galdin Quay?”

The man nodded.

“We should make sure the area we release him at it blocked off. The more people who know about this creature, the more danger it poses to his species,” Ignis said. He pulled out his own phone, tapping away on the screen. “And your article about finding a mermaid will need to be redacted.”

The room became a buzz of movement as they readied a tank for Prompto's transport, filling it with water and hoisting it up to the top of his tank. 

Prompto shied away from it when he saw it coming, not wanting to be confined in its small space again. 

“We'll need to sedate him in order to get him in the tank,” the woman said as she placed a black hard case onto a desk. 

Ignis stopped her, a hand on the top of the case as she unlocked it, preventing her from opening it. “There will be no need. I'm sure we can come up with something so we do not harm the creature.”

“He tried to claw my eyes out,” she told him flatly.

He waved her off, walking back to the tank and whispering to Noctis. “Tell him it will be alright. We need him to be in the smaller tank so he can be returned home.”

Noctis nodded, swallowing around the lump in his throat. He looked around the tank, spotting a set of stairs leading to a small platform. Pointing the stairs out to Prompto, he hurried over, watching the mer follow him curiously. When he reached the platfrom, Noctis crouched down. The transport tank was to his left, sitting a few feet underneath the water.

Prompto's head emerged and he whispered desperately. “Please, help me. I wanna go home.”

Crouching down, Noctis nodded, placing a finger to his lips. “I'm getting you out of here, don't worry,” he said, watching the mer's lips twitch into a tiny smile. “But you have to get in this tank.”

Prompto shook his head.

“You need to stay in the water on the trip back to Galdin Quay,” he whispered hurriedly. “I'll... I'll be with you the whole time. I promise.”

Prompto eyed the tank warily, looking back to Noctis with a pained expression.

“The truck is ready,” the woman called out. 

Noctis could hear the regret in her words. “Come on. I won't let any of them touch you,” he said.

With one last look at Noctis, Prompto swam over to the tank, settling inside. It was raised out of the water and he had to calm himself, clenching his eyes shut and curling in on himself.

–

“Hey there,” Gladio said, keeping his tone soothing and calm. He had a job to do and scaring the mer was not an option.

Prompto tensed, shifting closer to the side of the tank Noctis was sat on. The door to the truck was open and he saw the ocean through it. It was too far away, too much beach inbetween him and his home.

“You're going to need to stay calm,” Noctis said, opening the tank. “Gladio's going to carry you down to the water. He won't hurt you and I'll be right beside him the whole time.”

Prompto whined at the idea. He didn't want a human he didn't know touching him. He was barely used to Noctis' touch as it was.

“Is that okay?” Noctis asked when he didn't reply.

“Y-yes,” he murmured, casting his eyes to the larger human. He didn't see Noctis nod and cowered when the human, Gladio, went to scoop him up.

“I won't hurt you,” Gladio said, stopping his arms and waiting until the mer was ready. When Prompto relaxed minutely, he slipped his arms under his tail and behind his back. Lifting him from the water was harder than he expected, Prompto's tail weighing a lot more than he thought. He grunted and adjusted his arms, getting a better grip.

Prompto only just noticed the third human, the one who had whispered things to Noctis, when he was carried out of the truck. He kept his hands to his chest, too frightened to grab Gladio around the neck, but the sight of the water getting closer had his heart racing. His tail dragged in the sand, the harsh grains irritating his fin. He tried lifting his tail, using all his strength to hold it up when a hand slipped underneath the scales, relieving him of the strain. 

Noctis flashed him a smile when he stared, wondering who else had touched him. The sight relaxed him enough to give the human his own, much smaller smile.

When they were waist deep in the ocean, Prompto squirmed excitedly out of Gladio's hands, tail smacking him on the hip. He hissed and grabbed the sore area. “That'll leave a mark.”

The water was chilly and refreshing and Prompto swam in circles a few times before hurrying back to his savior.

Before the three men realised what happened, Noctis was under the water, Prompto's arms around his waist. Gladio hauled him back up, holding the shivering prince under his arms to keep him steady.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” Prompto repeated, voice cracking and near tears.

Noctis stroked his hair and back, mindful of the dark bruises. “How did you get these?” he asked, lightly brushing a finger over his shoulder.

Prompto shook his head. “I tried to escape and hurt myself,” he whimpered.

“So, the people at the facility didn't harm you?” Ignis asked, stepping over. 

Noctis thought he looked silly, standing in waist deep water in a pair of pressed trousers and a button up shirt. But he couldn't talk. At least Ignis removed his shoes, Noctis' boots would likely have to be thrown out.

Again, Prompto shook his head. “I-I was so scared. I didn't want them to touch me so-so I hid.”

“I'm glad you're not hurt,” Noctis said softly, petting his hair once again. “You should get back to your family. I know they're worried about you.”

There was a nod and Prompto sniffled, squeezing Noctis around his waist again. He released him and swam away, tail whipping out of sight in seconds.

“So, now do you believe me?” Noctis asked, smirking over at Ignis.

The man rolled his eyes and turned, walking back to the beach.

“Why don't we stay the night,” Gladio suggested. “We can head home in the morning.”

–

Prompto was sure he had made it home in record time, slipping through the coral reef and darting into the trench. “Cor! Monica!” he called out before he even reached his home cave.

A flash of gold and strong arms wrapped around his frame, squeezing tightly. “Prompto! We were so worried!” Cor held him out at arms length just as Monica came up beside him, pulling Prompto into another smothering hug. “Are you hurt? Did the humans hurt you?”

He shook his head, stopping the second Cor noticed the bruising along his arms. “No, no! I did that when I tried to escape,” he said quickly. “I didn't give them the chance to hurt me.”

“You were gone for three days,” Monica said. It sounded like she had been crying. “How did you escape?”

Prompto flinched, biting his lip and looking down. “N-noctis helped me,” he whispered.

The two mers observed him quietly, before Cor spoke. “Is that the human you've been sneaking off to see?” he asked, calm voice doing nothing to hide his ire.

Prompto was silent, fingers fidgeting behind his back. He nodded once. Cor and Monica were looking to each other when he glanced up, just long enough to see them before dropping his head back down. He wondered if they were figuring out what sort of punishment he should receive for, once again, disobeying their orders. Maybe they'd never let him be alone again, even when he's sleeping. Or perhaps they'd send him off to a new family, one far away from Galdin Quay or any other human cities, for that matter. He'd deserve whatever punishment they chose.

“Where is this human now?” Cor asked. “The one who saved you?”

“I don't... Probably at the city to the north,” he replied, confused. “That's where he had the humans take me so I could come home.”

“Is that where you meet the human?”

Prompto nodded.

The older mers looked to one another again. Monica nodded, a small smile on her face. “I'll wait for your return,” she said, drifting back to their cave.

That was... weird.

“Take me to this human. I wish to meet them,” Cor said suddenly, startling the young mer.

“M-meet?”

Cor nodded. “To give my thanks for helping you.”

Prompto blinked at him. Cor wanted to actually meet a human? To say thank you? The very idea was bewildering to the mer, but he decided to not look a gift seahorse in the mouth. “O-okay.”

–

Noctis laughed to himself, a soft snort escaping him as he shook his head. Ignis clicked his tongue at the noise, crossing his arms.

“I still can't believe you were jealous,” Noctis snickered, glancing back at his adviser.

“I was not jealous,” Ignis maintained.

“Fine, fine.” Noctis made a vague wave with his hand at the man, turning back to the sea. He leaned on his palms, legs crossed, and closed his eyes for a minute.

Though he loved to tease the man, and would continue to do so because of the sheer hilarity he found in what had transpired for a while, he was still grateful for Ignis' quick thinking at the facility. He even went as far as to collect clothing for the three men before they had left Insomnia, knowing one of them would likely suggest a night at the Quay.

After a hot shower in the hotel, warming his body after being thoroughly soaked when Prompto inadvertently pulled him under, and fresh, clean clothes, Noctis had hiked to the pier he always met the mer at as of late. 

He knew Prompto wouldn't be around. And he might not ever come back, if his family had anything to say about it. Being captured by humans and put in what was essentially an giant aquarium like a pet fish would have any mer shy away from the human world even more than usual.

Opening his eyes, Noctis stared out into the horizon. The sun had long since set; sky a deep blue, stars and moon shining brightly and reflecting off the water. A ripple caught his attention, distorting the mirror image of the moon. He frowned and leaned forward, watching the ripple as it steadily moved closer. A head popped out of the water and Noctis smiled brightly. “Prompto! You came back.”

“Um... Cor came with me. He wanted to speak to you,” Prompto said hurriedly, just before another mer appeared.

The new mer was, in Noctis' opinion, intimidating. In the same was Gladio's dad had been when he was a kid. He had a look that said 'I always know what you're up to'. It made Noctis nervous. He gulped and nodded. “H-hello,um, sir?”

“Cor is fine,” the mer said. He stayed a few feet away from the pier when Prompto swam up, hauling himself out of the water to sit beside the human. “I wanted to extend my gratitude for what you did today. Our family would also like to thank you for rescuing Prompto from the humans who had taken him.”

“Family?” Ignis had walked down the pier when he spotted Prompto, Gladio in tow. He looked at the new mer, then to Prompto. “Is Prompto your son?”

Cor fixed Ignis with a look the man couldn't quite decipher. “He is an important part of our family,” he said, not bothering to elaborate.

“Prompto's not, like, a prince or anything, is he?” Noctis asked, jokingly. He tensed slightly when the mer leaned over, their shoulders touching, cold water soaking through his shirt.

“Prompto is Prompto,” Cor said, furrowing his brow at the question. “We do not have royalty in our family. Why do you wish to know? Are you a prince?”

Noctis opened his mouth to speak when Ignis cut him off. “Noctis is the prince of Lucis, heir to the throne of Insomnia.”

There a soft gasp from beside him and Prompto's arms wind around Noctis', the chill of the water causing him to shiver. “Wow, so this is what if feels like to be saved by a prince,” he said, awe and a touch of humor in his voice.

Noctis flushed at the words, laughing weakly. He can feel Gladio's stare on his back, knows the man will tease him relentlessly about this. A splash of the water drew him from his thoughts, looking back to Cor.

“Prompto, I expect you home before dawn,” he said.

Prompto nodded quickly and energetically. “I will. I promise,” he grinned, waving when the older mer dropped back underneath the waves.

“I guess we'll give you two some _privacy_ ,” Gladio smirked, hand on Ignis' arm as he lead the man away. 

The way he had said 'privacy' had Noctis blushing harder, and he silently cursed his shield. Prompto didn't seem to have noticed the tone, the mer only smiled softly, still hugging his arm, only looser now, more relaxed. 

It made Noctis smile himself.


End file.
